Newly promoted Tory Business Secretary Sajid Javid has unveiled plans to make it more difficult for trade unionists to take strike action. The measures will be introduced in the government’s first Queen’s Speech.

The legislation is
designed to ensure strikes cannot go ahead unless they have the
support of 40 percent of balloted members.

In addition to the vote share, at least 50 percent of those
eligible to vote must cast their ballot for the result to be
considered legitimate.

Javid told the BBC he would prioritize measures which would allow
employers to hire agency staff – known in the labor movement as
‘scabs’ – to replace workers taking strike action.

“We have already made clear in terms of strike laws that
there will be some significant changes,” he said.

“We've said that there will be a minimum threshold in terms
of turnout of 50 percent of those entitled to vote.

“We have also said that when it comes to essential public
services, at least 40 percent of people need to vote for strike
action. And we’ve said we’re going to lift the ban on the use of
agency staff when strike action takes place.

“That's something we’ll give more detail on in the Queen's
Speech but it will be a priority. We need to update our strike
laws and we’ve never hidden away from the changes we want to
make,” he added.

Speaking to RT, Sarah Sachs-Eldridge of the Socialist Party, a
member organization of the Trade Unionist & Socialist
Coalition (TUSC), said Britain has some of the most “restrictive
anti-trade union laws in the Western world.”

“David Cameron’s incoming Conservative government, elected by
just over 24 percent of the electorate, wouldn’t even be in
Downing Street if the same laws were applied to them. The
calculation of the Tory government is that they can effectively
outlaw strikes in the public sector.

“However they may well be over-reaching themselves in the
euphoria of their narrow victory. The root causes of industrial
action, low pay, bullying at work, long hours etc, cannot be
wished away by an act of Parliament. The consequence of this
proposal will be widespread anger and the Socialist Party will be
campaigning energetically for action to defend the right to
strike,” she added.

Frances O’Grady of the TUC echoed her sentiments, saying the Tory
government was siding with “Britain’s worst bosses.”

“Those who want their staff to be on zero-hours contracts,
poverty pay and unable to effectively organize in a union so that
they can do something about it.

“The government’s proposals on union ballots will make legal
strikes close to impossible. Union negotiators will be left with
no more power than Oliver Twist when he asked for more.

“After five years of falling living standards the prospects
for decent pay rises have just got a whole lot worse,” she
said.

The new measures come just hours after the announcement of the
new cabinet, and coincide with a strike vote from the Rail,
Maritime and Transport (RMT) union, which could announce
industrial action on the Docklands Light Railway.

RMT General Secretary Mick Cash said: “It was on the cards
that this government, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the idle rich
and the bad bosses, would move quickly to tighten the noose of
the anti-union laws around the workers’ necks at the earliest
opportunity.

“These proposed new laws would mean one form of democracy for
the greedy political class and another for the organized
working-class. The trade unions will unite to fight these
attacks.”